Tag Archives: Major Lazer

The Best Dance Songs of the Year

With joy I present the hottest dance songs of 2012. These have been tested on random samples of teenage girls, drag queens, and punk rock kittens. Well, actually just on me, but those folks all live in my heart. And deep within my heart, when they hear these tracks they dance.

Top Dance Songs of 2012

Azealia Banks – 212
From the June 2012 EP 1991
This properly belongs on my hip-hop list, and you’ll find it there, but it deserves the top spot on my Best Dance Songs list. I tried to avoid duplication, but it truly deserves a high-ranking spot on both lists. I only DJed a few times in 2012, but every time I did, this was the song that people came up to me and asked who the artist was. The beat is positively primal and her fast simple rhyme scheme will have you trying to rap along. You’ll find Azealia is too fast for your tongue, so you may as well give in and let the rhythm move you.

Brodinski (feat. Louisahhh!!!) – Nobody Rules The StreetsReleased June 12, 2012 on the single Bromance #3
Those who turn their noses up at dance music often complain about the repetition. “Nobody Rules These Streets” is a perfect example of how repetition in dance music succeeds. Louisahhh!!! only has one sentence in this song, and she sings it many times, but I don’t think a single time is identical to any other time. With every measure, Brodinski brings takes the song somewhere new. This is the hottest drop of the year, for dark sexy moments where the ladies bend their legs and dip as low and slow as they can. Even though the song only has one line, “Nobody Rules These Streets” still tells a story: Louisahhh!!! is a big fish in a big, dirty, nasty pond.
If you like this one, also check out “Tonight’s the Night” on the Top Dance Music of 2012 11-20 list.

Lisa Mitchell – Neopolitan Dreams (Sound Remedy Remix)
First posted May 24th, 2012 on Indie ShuffleYou may have noticed that I don’t put a lot of dubstep on YNFB/FIF. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I like it in small, exceptional doses. I prefer it to change the mood, not to set the mood for the whole night. Whether you’re hesitant to get on board with dubstep or a longtime fan, check out Sound Remedy’s remix, as it is truly exceptional. He somehow manages to take this light and pretty pop song and make it both dubstep and glitchy 8-bit. Positively a gorgeous remix that’s bringing something new and unique to the dubstep genre.

Robert DeLong – Global ConceptsFrom the October 2012 EP Global Concepts
Robert DeLong is the electronic musician I am most excited about for 2013. He makes electro with percussion that gives a nod to the Jamaican sound popularized by artists like Diplo and MIA. Maybe it’s because of the unexpected two-step pulse, or maybe it’s because he uses, like, REAL drums. “Global Concepts” is filled out with effects that sound like a rain stick. As a bonus, DeLong’s lyrics aren’t the same crap you usually get with dance music. Sure, the refrain “Did I make you fucking dance” is as good an anthem as any, but the rest of the song is filled out with lines like “After I die, I’ll re-awake / redefine what was at stake / from the hindsight of a god.” And who uses words like “entropy” in a dance song? It’s nice touches like this that make Robert Delong one of my favorite discoveries of 2012.
Five More: Bring It!

While Destructo was finishing up his set at the Mezzanine, I wandered upstairs in search of a better view. I was surprised to see a DJ setting up in the back room. Hope alighted my belly. I asked the gent assembling what his name was and he said Jaime. Hope swelled. I asked him if he had a DJ name. He seemed a little taken aback, like the answer wasn’t ready at his fingertips.

I said, “Oh, great. Then you’re who I’m here to see.” Well that wasn’t exactly true—I’d only found out he was going to be there a few hours ago, but it immediately outshone my interest in the main act, Major Lazer. Major Lazer’s set was probably starting at that minute, I didn’t know or give a damn.

He seemed shy and not at all accustomed to the cult of celebrity. When I told him “I love your album” I almost thought he didn’t believe me. But truth be told, in that crowd he wasn’t a celebrity. I wanted to tell him that by the time he comes back to San Francisco The XX will be the name on everyone’s lips but that sort of praise always sounds like B.S., especially in a loud crowd, especially when that crowd is not dancing to your music.

I originally thought they were going to squeeze him in for a short set on the crowded, enormous, sweaty main stage. Instead I had a sweet spot directly in front of the DJ with all the room I needed to lay down whatever dance move struck my fancy. There was no stage, he had a DJ table on the floor sandwiched between some cordoned off VIP booths. Basically, my pal and I were the only ones dancing for a time. We didn’t mind. It was like seeing (a third of) The XX DJ at a private house party. Upstairs at the Mezzanine is small, intimate, even hidden. It was warm and oddly dry. We threw our limbs where we damned well pleased. Even when the crowd picked up, it seemed the other groovers were happy to make room for us. Territory: marked. We tore that dancefloor up so hard that a random woman in the crowd went out of her way to score a high-five with yours truly.

One thing I’ve found pretty consistent about DJ sets is that most have a preferred BPM. Jamie was no different, most of his songs were, like the XX’s album, simple, chill beats. He mixed them beautifully, showing off a variety of techniques but never actually “showing off.” He played a mix of vinyl and CDs; most were songs I’ve never heard before. He chose only one hip-hop song and I wanted to ask him who it was but I was too busy getting busy. I would have liked for him to have played more songs with vocals but, unlike Diplo & Switch’s set, there was plenty of melody to please my ears.

My pal had a chat with a guy whose pupils were the size of silver dollars while they watched Major Lazer from the stairwell. In the throes of some ecstatic experience he tried to convince that we were missing out on the action. But watching Switch shout and hype frenetically over Diplo’s BASS BASS BASS and no melody, our peeks onto the main floor convinced us otherwise. The bass-hungry crowd only seemed to wander upstairs for respite (perhaps they were intimidated by our awesome dancing? I like to think so).

As the hour approached for Miike Snow’s upstairs set, girls crowded in next to me, snapping photos. I had forgotten I could take photos and almost didn’t want to. It seemed like snapping photos in his face would ruin the illusion in my head of a personal experience now (weren’t we single-serving friends now that he was on a first-name basis? Hmm, probably not). But then I got kind of annoyed that these bitches didn’t even want a picture of Jamie. By the time I had my camera out, he had already crept off the stage. I had just enough time to wonder if these girls newly crowding the floor thought he was some local DJ, how many didn’t know The XX was going to be their new favorite CD, how many were going to repeat “Crystalized” over and over on their trendy mp3 players. Then, like a secret whispered in the night, he was gone.